Does Mormonism Cover truths from all Religions?

“The concept of a restoration is biblical and is frequently spoken of in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. Peter spoke of the anticipated ‘times of of restitution of all things, which God hath spoken of by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world began.’ (Acts 3:21). Latter-Day Saints understand this as a prophetic anticipation of a full and final restoration of the gospel in the development and fulfillment of the purposes of God in these last days.” (Encyclopedia of Mormonism)

As a Latter-Day Saint, or Mormon, I believe this to mean that in the beginning, God revealed all truth to his prophets. Throughout time, His truths became corropted. Through divine revelations from God, Joseph Smith received a full restitution of all truths. It is my personal belief that elements of these truths can be found in virtualy every religion though.

It seems that the past few days I’ve had experiences causing me to reflect on the truths that can be found in other religions. I’ll share some of my experiences.

During a recent business meeting a colleague and I started talking religion. She knew I was LDS and I knew she was Christian. One thing that has baffled me about most Christians is the fact that it appears to me they limit the abilities of God to just communicating to one people through one book (the Bible). I told my friend in our conversation that I believe in the Bible and am grateful for the inspired book, but what I love about the Restored Gospel (the LDS faith) is that we believe in a God that is all-encompassing and who is the Father of all people and who loves us all equally. We believe that God has revealed more truth to us in addition to the Bible and that he can reveal more truth in the future to us should he choose. (see Article of Faith 9) To my suprise she agreed with me and called herself a “liberal christian” in that she believed that there is a lot of truth in the Bible as well as in other sources outside of the Bible and that God couldn’t and shouldn’t be limited to one book. It was a very refreshing conversation for me.

My wife is on a recruiting trip in the Middle East for business. She called me today and as she was describing the culture and the way the people would pray and how nice some of the people were she said “It’s amazing to see how many of the truths taught in Mormonism are found in other religions that aren’t even Christian.” I agreed with her.

Finally, I was reading an article posted on the Temple Study Blog about the “scattered fragments” of the ancient temple rites of the
Egyptians and how they correlate with those of the Jews and essentially with those taught in Mormon temples. I recommend reading the article for more specific information.

These three examples are ones of recent, but I’ve had experiences in the past with people from all faiths and even those without any religion who practice the principles of love, faith, charity, prayer, kindness, repentance, etc. All of which, are truths that are universal and come from God.

To answer the question “Does Mormonism Cover truths from all Religions?” I would personally have to say it does cover a good portion of truth, including truths found in other religions, but there is still more truth that will be revealed. Even if the religion is slightly warped or even largely warped it all stems from an original religion that Heavenly Father taught Adam. I’m grateful that Mormonism teaches that there is a way for those who don’t have a chance to hear about Jesus in this life to be saved; that God is all-loving and just and doesn’t limit Himself to answering and blessing the lives of all nations; that families and marriages are an eternal principle and not “til death do you part”; that Jesus is our personal Savior and the Savior of mankind; that God has revealed himself in the past and that he can and will continue to reveal himself in the future.

I don’t claim to be a religious expert, but I have experienced first hand Budhist and Daoist temples in Asia, the wide variety of Christian denominations throughout America and Europe, Jewish temples and people, Muslims, and even though some of the religions are pretty far from the actual truth, one can see a semblance of original truth that it came from.

So the questions I ask are: Do you agree with me that Mormonism covers truth from all Religions? If so, what other truths or concepts in other religions can you think of that Mormonism covers?

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I believe that all truth comes from God. I don’t believe that the LDS Church has a monopoly on truth. We don’t believe we have all truth revealed either (AoF 9). I believe that some truth can be found in all the religions of the world. As I will explore on my blog (Temple Study), I believe that some truths of the gospel, particularly fragments of the temple ordinances, can be found in virtually every religion on the planet.

Brigham Young once stated:

The truth that is in all the arts and sciences forms a part of our religion.

Again he said:

All truth belongs to the Saints of the Most High. . . . All truth, every good and holy principle, the fulness of the heavens and of the earth, and all time and all eternities that ever were, or are, or are to come, belong to the Saints of the Most High.

And again:

Every accomplishment, every polished grace, every useful attainment in mathematics, music, and in all science and art belong to the Saints, and they should avail themselves as expeditiously as possible of the wealth of knowledge the sciences offer to every diligent and persevering scholar.

We believe in every truth. We seek for truth. We believe that all truth is circumscribed into one great whole of the gospel of Jesus Christ. When we find truth, we lay hold upon it, we take it up, we believe it, we teach it, we live it. It doesn’t matter the source; if it is truth, we accept it.

In short,

We believe all things, we hope all things, we have endured many things, and hope to be able to endure all things. If there is anything virtuous, lovely, or of good report or praiseworthy, we seek after these things. (AoF 13)

Sorry, I forgot a closing blockquote tag there. This part was my own commentary:

“We believe in every truth. We seek for truth. We believe that all truth is circumscribed into one great whole of the gospel of Jesus Christ. When we find truth, we lay hold upon it, we take it up, we believe it, we teach it, we live it. It doesn’t matter the source; if it is truth, we accept it.”

One of the purposes of interacting with other religions/cultures should be because they can teach us something, and not to look for “parallels” that somehow demonstrate the truth we’ve already found. Studying the Egyptians or Muslims shouldn’t simply be about finding things in their system of beliefs that we already have. It should be about finding things we lack and adding it to what we have.

So I guess to answer your question, no I do not believe that Mormonism covers all truth, because there is much good in the world that we do not immediately recognize as “Mormonism”.

Joseph Smith didn’t even translate all of the Book of Mormon. Some of it remains sealed, and probably won’t be revealed until the Millenium. Why? I suspect that it has something to do with overwhelming people.

Line upon line, precept upon precept, here a little and there a little. I have a hard enough time getting all of my hometeaching done every month, preparing lessons for church, shuttling my children back and forth to church activities, being supportive of my wife and all that she does, attending the temple on a regular basis, etc.

It’s possible that as much as I want to be ready for all truth right now, I might not actually be ready for all truth right now, and a loving Father in Heaven understands that.

Dan, what you said reminds me of what my bishop said in a priesthood meeting once. We were discussing various “deep doctrine” issues and he said to stop worrying about that. He said once we have a handle on loving God and our neighbors then we might be able to tackle the next thing.

I have a feeling that we as humans aren’t going to reach that goal in this life and therefore what you said about more truths being revealed in the Millenium may very well be true.

I agree with you in the fact that looking at other cultures/religions definitely teach us something new from a new perspective. However, I believe that all truth stems from God and those truths found elsewhere could be traced back to an original origin, many of which (not yet all of which) are found in the restored Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Truth comes from GOD, (not a god) and since we were created by GOD and made in HIS image we have truth in us. All “religions” have truth in them, but they do not lead to salvation that comes from JESUS CHRIST alone. There is no such thing as new truths. GOD told us exactly what is truth in HIS one and only HOLY WORD, THE BIBLE. There is no such thing as a restored gospel. Archeology does not support Mormonism what so ever. Joseph Smith lied. Check out Josephlied.com

I can’t accept that God is confined to one Book that has been through many revisions and books that have been added and taken away throughout the course of 2000 years. God is much bigger than that. Yes. The Bible has truth and it is the main book supporting Jesus Christ and his ministry, but I know that other books are just as true as the Bible because I feel the same confirmation of the spirit in the Bible as I do in the Book of Mormon and other books and words of prophets.

As for the Josephlied website I think that whoever is on there is trying to make some money off of “Joseph Lied” tshirts and “donations” to paypal. Wow! That site is about as absurd as the Godmakers film.

BUT, in empathy with their situation and why they left the LDS church, I can see how they could leave. the LDS church has a rocky history. I’m glad my faith isn’t based on the history of the LDS church or any other church for that matter.

You might be interested in one of my recent posts “Why to People Leave the LDS Church?”

Ditto on your agreements/disagreements with Seventyx7. It is a dangerous and narrow-minded thing to put a cap on where truth comes from (i.e., God only has only revealed truth through a limited source).

That said, Mormons themselves have admittedly been slow to accept truth outside the churce, but they’re coming around. Hopefully evangelicals will to.

It is interesting to me that early church leaders would let people from other churches speak to the Mormons. This is no longer the case, but I know that (though I can’t cite it at the moment) some RLDS missionaries were invited by Brigham Young to speak in the SL Tabernacle. Such a thing would be heresy today.

I agree with Pres Hinckley’s comments, something to the effect of “bring your good truths, and let us add to it.” There are truths everywhere.

Seventyx7, truth is not limited to the Bible, but can be found in the Koran, the Apocrypha, Hindu, Buddhist, and many other religions. You are quite narrow-minded to be so limited. Are you saying God only loves Christians, and even more narrowly, just Christians who only believe in the Bible? And which Bible anyway? For the Catholic Bible is certainly different than the Protestant Bible (if one exists–with all the different translations out there, just which Bible are you referring to?) For heaven’s sake, Galileo found some truths not in the Bible and was prosecuted for it. Obviously, Galileo’s assertions were correct, but short-sighted people were scared of the implications.

Seventyx7, I don’t want this to sound like I’m attacking you, because, I don’t believe every thing about LDS church history, and we probably have more in common than you think. However, if you think all truth is in the Bible, then you should increase your knowledge, and not just spout political arguments. After all, with this campaign season, we get enough negative campaigning between Republicans and Democrats, that we don’t need it to spread to (hopefully) more thoughtful religious discussions.

Are you setting yourself up as a prophet or missionary to try to convince others that Mormons are evil, or at best unlearned in Christianity? Such a stance is truly condescending, and generally not appreciated. I doubt you would appreciate others speaking to you with the same tone.

Yes, I’m sure that Mormons have spoken to you condescendingly, but that doesn’t make it right. I think we should be past “eye for an eye” thinking by now if we consider ourselves good Christians. By your username, I would expect you to know the answer to Jesus question, “How many times should we forgive?”

You can catch more flies with honey, than vinegar, though vinegar makes an impact more quickly. Honey takes too much time…

The Bible has been around for around 2,000 years (maybe not compiled yet, but the books and letters were there) There is a tremendous amount of evidence that we can look at for the Bible (5,600 documents within 100 years of the originals in existence for the NT and the Dead Sea Scrolls {+others} for the OT). Even secular historians and archaeologists agree that the Bible is as much a history book as a religious book because there is evidence for the places, people and events mentions in the Bible. Which cannot be said for the Book of Mormon. The Smithsonian does not recognize the BOM as anything more than a religious book. Archaeologists find no evidence for the places, people or events mentioned in the BOM. That includes many Mormon archaeologists.
You mentioned that you had a confirmation of the spirit that the BOM and other books were just as true as the BIBLE. I do not doubt that you did. But please keep this in mind:

“For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ. And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light. Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness; whose end shall be according to their works.” 1 COR 11:13-15

“The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?” JER 17:9

“Every word of God is pure: he is a shield unto them that put their trust in him. Add thou not unto his words, lest he reprove thee, and thou be found a liar.” PRO 30:5-6

PS “In a study of arthritis victims Dr. Angus Peters of University of Edinburgh’s Arthritis Research Institute found a daily dose of apple cider vinegar and honey reduced pains by 90%……………Patients, who took the additional apple cider vinegar and honey drink daily, were more vigorous, had fewer colds or infectious diseases and in general were healthier than those who didn’t. There’s no question that this astounding elixir can extend life by protecting you from many proved killers.” (http://rawfoodinfo.com/articles/art_cidervingarlichoney.html)

So what are you saying, that there is no evidence of the Koran, the Bhagavad Gita or other religious texts? And do you believe the Catholic Bible, or the Protestant Bible, Mr. Honey and Vinegar? Ghandi was smart enough to learn some things from the Bible, perhaps you could learn something from his holy book as well….. Have you even studied any other books? (Or will that lead you off the straight and narrow path?)

Yes the Bible has been around for 2000 years, the BOM, less than 200. Do you think all this archaelogical evidence for the Bible was known 1800 years ago? After all, the first archaeologist was Constantine’s mom, and that was more than 300 years after the time of Christ. I doubt there was much evidence back in the time of Constantine.

By that argument, you must believe the world is still flat. After all, there was plenty of evidence (3500 years at least) that the world was flat. However, in the last what, 500 years, that theory has been proved false. Perhaps in another 1800 years, there will be more proof of the BOM.

P.S. I’m glad honey and vinegar works for arthritis. Did these patients also take a breath mint so that people could tolerate to be around them? (I’ll forward this link to my mom–she has arthritis.)

The original honey and vinegar message dealt with “how to win friends and influence people”, not arthritis. Does the honey and vinegar principle apply with your missionary work? After all, I think that was the original context of the message. But perhaps I’m quoting out of context… What do you think?

I know I’m sounding harsh, but perhaps you could open your mind to other ideas, or is that too threatening to you? In both the Bible, and the BOM, it says “Charity is the pure love of Christ.” Perhaps you could be more charitable with your criticisms…. (I’d be willing to bet that Confucius probably said something similar too. Would you reject that because it is not in your Holy Bible?) You might check my other comment about the Baptist who believes the Book of Mormon, yet remains a firmly committed Baptist.

P.P.S. I’m not disputing anything you are saying, as much as I am taking exception to your tone. You seem to have your own agenda. Could you comment on some of the world religions? Or are you saying they’re all bad and going to Hell? I don’t believe that. (Of course, I know that we have different concepts of Hell.) I think Ghandi exhibited better Christian principles than you or I, and I think God understands that better than you or I. Was he misled by his holy books, or did his simple reading of the New Testament save him?

“Enter ye in by the narrow gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many are they that enter in thereby. For narrow is the gate, and straitened the way, that leadeth unto life, and few are they that find it. Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves.” MATT 7:13-15

“Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, and the truth, and the life: no one cometh unto the Father, but by me.” John 14:6

“And one of the scribes came, and heard them questioning together, and knowing that he had answered them well, asked him, What commandment is the first of all? Jesus answered, The first is, Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God, the Lord is one: and thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength.” Mark 12:28-30

I really want to make a snide comment here, but I just took a breath mint….

Good luck Seventyx7, and may God bless you! I know your heart is in the right place, and I pray you can work on the method. May we all live Christ’s teachings better, and be the kind of Christians he wants us all to be.

I think most of these domains are available, and you could probably make some good money. I’m sure I left out a few, but I think you get the idea. I think it would be better to start with the non-Christian ones first–there’s a bigger audience there. But if you want to do the Christians first because they read the bible, the Catholic one is pretty big too.

It is interesting to note that the Bible was written over a span of 2,000 years by many authors who did not know each other, yet each book contains the same message: The need for a Saviour, fulfilled in Jesus Christ.

Now these are just non-faith things that are pointed out. I think the one thing that has been proved the Bible to be true over and over again, even here is:

“And ye shall be hated of all men for my name’s sake…” Matt 10:22a

But Grace this is what I cling to:

“Do not fear those who kill the body but are unable to kill the soul; but rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.” Matt 10:28

Grace, I respect you and know that you are just as commited to your faith in the LDS as I am to Jesus Christ. I am not here to judge you, but to proclaim the truth of Jesus Christ and not the ideas of myself or of any man. I find it interesting that a man such as Joseph Smith would boast such a claim as:

“God is in the still small voice. In all these affidavits, indictments, it is all of the devil–all corruption. Come on! ye prosecutors! ye false swearers! All hell, boil over! Ye burning mountains, roll down your lava! for I will come out on the top at last. I have more to boast of than ever any man had. I am the only man that has ever been able to keep a whole church together since the days of Adam. A large majority of the whole have stood by me. Neither Paul, John, Peter, nor Jesus ever did it. I boast that no man ever did such a work as I. The followers of Jesus ran away from Him; but the Latter-day Saints never ran away from me yet.” History of the Church, volume 6, p 408 to 409

Grace, you are in my prayers, as well as the others. May the God of Abraham, Issac and Jacob bring you to His Truth through His Son, Jesus Christ.

it looks like you have a lot of scripture there. What would you say to an atheist though that didn’t believe in scripture? How do you know the bible is true even if you can prove it as a historic book, etc. How do you know?

In regards to Joseph Smith. That appears to be a pretty arrogant statement he said there and that is probably why it isn’t included in our scriptures. I personally don’t think every word that came out of his mouth was truth. He was a man just like we are and only when moved upon by the Spirit of prophecy was he acting as a prophet.

Ok, AMA, I shouldn’t have piled on, and I agree with Seventyx7, many have lied, but why are you so focused on the mormons? After all, the other religions vastly outnumber the mormons, and yet you are only advertising the josephlied.com domain–seems kinda discriminatory to me. (This is an honest question.)

Why don’t you go after Islam who kills people in the name of Allah, or the Catholic Church who did the same with the Crusades? That seems like a more reasonable stance to me. Both of them are much larger in population–is the mormon church a much larger threat? Are you scared it will outgrow them both?

I just see too many similarities between your approach and the imams in Iran–tearing people apart, rather that Ghandi’s approach of bringing people together. Have you seen the movie Ghandi? He respected people of all faiths, whether or not they were Christian. I think Christ would be extremely disappointed in people who divide in his name.

Just to get in here. I don’t think there is any historical evidence of the bible being “true”. There is no accurate record of any “Jesus” outside of the bible. There are only 2 or 3 mentions by historians of the time of a “Christ”, and they’re vague, at best. If there was a Jesus who was so great, performing miracles and such, not to mention the 3 days of darkness, I would think there would have been numerous mentions by that era’s historians.

I cannot prove the Bible to be true, just as you can not prove that Mormonism is true to an athiest or anyone for that matter. The Holy Spirit is who stirs the hearts of those who have yet to believe.

“But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God.”
1 Cor 2:10

I do know what the Scriptures tell us about those who do not believe in Go:

“The fool has said in his heart, ‘There is no God.’ ” Psalm 14:1a

“For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, because that which is known about God is evident within them; for God made it evident to them. For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse. For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks, but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened. Professing to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for an image in the form of corruptible man and of birds and four-footed animals and crawling creatures.
Therefore God gave them over in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, so that their bodies would be dishonored among them. For they exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen.
For this reason God gave them over to degrading passions; for their women exchanged the natural function for that which is unnatural, and in the same way also the men abandoned the natural function of the woman and burned in their desire toward one another, men with men committing indecent acts and receiving in their own persons the due penalty of their error.
And just as they did not see fit to acknowledge God any longer, God gave them over to a depraved mind, to do those things which are not proper, being filled with all unrighteousness, wickedness, greed, evil; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, malice; they are gossips, slanderers, haters of God, insolent, arrogant, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, without understanding, untrustworthy, unloving, unmerciful; and although they know the ordinance of God, that those who practice such things are worthy of death, they not only do the same, but also give hearty approval to those who practice them.” Romans 1:18-32

But if I were trying to prove God to an athiest, I would first point to nature.

“The heavens are telling of the glory of God;
And their expanse is declaring the work of His hands. Day to day pours forth speech, And night to night reveals knowledge.There is no speech, nor are there words;
Their voice is not heard. ” Psalm 19:1-3

“For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse.” Romans 1:20

I find it really interesting that you ignore my and Mormon Heretic’s questions. Are they just too hard to answer because you can’t quote a scripture to state why you are a Mormon bigot?

Sure, you may say that Mormons are going to Hell, and you want to rescue them. But it wasn’t Mormons who flew planes into the World Trade Center, or started the Crusades. Can you try to engage in the conversation, or are you simply programmed to mis-quote scripture?

What do you have to say about Jihad? Is Jihad worse than mormonism, or better? (We’re impressed that you know your bible, but please, enough of the scripture quoting–what do YOU think?)

I was not ignoring your question, I answered MH questions with scripture and I will answer your question now. I in no way am a Mormon hater. I have two very good friends who are Mormon. and we openly talk about our faiths. Here is a scripture that applies to all people, no matter what creed:

“THERE IS NONE RIGHTEOUS, NOT EVEN ONE;
THERE IS NONE WHO UNDERSTANDS,
THERE IS NONE WHO SEEKS FOR GOD;
ALL HAVE TURNED ASIDE, TOGETHER THEY HAVE BECOME USELESS;
THERE IS NONE WHO DOES GOOD,
THERE IS NOT EVEN ONE.”
“THEIR THROAT IS AN OPEN GRAVE,
WITH THEIR TONGUES THEY KEEP DECEIVING,”
“THE POISON OF ASPS IS UNDER THEIR LIPS”;
“WHOSE MOUTH IS FULL OF CURSING AND BITTERNESS”;
“THEIR FEET ARE SWIFT TO SHED BLOOD,
DESTRUCTION AND MISERY ARE IN THEIR PATHS,
AND THE PATH OF PEACE THEY HAVE NOT KNOWN.”
“THERE IS NO FEAR OF GOD BEFORE THEIR EYES.”
Roman 3:10-18

WE are all sinners. Christian, Mormon, Muslim, Hindu, Buddist, New-ager…..

(1) What do you have to say about Jihad? Is Jihad worse than mormonism, or better? (We’re impressed that you know your bible, but please, (2) enough of the scripture quoting–what do YOU think?)

From MH:

(3) Why don’t you go after Islam who kills people in the name of Allah, or the Catholic Church who did the same with the Crusades? That seems like a more reasonable stance to me. Both of them are much larger in population–(4) is the mormon church a much larger threat? (5) Are you scared it will outgrow them both?

Of course, this leads to the question, why do you have a site called Josephlied.com, and not one called Muhammedlied.com? This is the bigotry, that I am speaking. If you were “equal opportunity”, you should go after them too, but you’re only going after Mormons. I doubt Muslims will be attracted to your website, even if they have problems with Islam.

Technically they believe in Christ, but not enough to think the Bible is worth reading, so your scripture quoting is falling on deaf ears with them. (6) What is YOUR rational for setting up the website? (Hint–I don’t think there’s a scripture that says “God told Seventyx7 to set up a josephlied.com website. And thus it came to pass.” (Seventyx7 1:1-2), so your answer should come from non-Biblical sources.)

Aaron, I’ll try to locate some good sources, but for fun you may want to check out the film “Zeitgeist”. It offers a little taste of some of the arguments against Jesus. I think the website is simply zeitgeist.com

And if you like film references, there’s also “The God Who Wasn’t There”. That one you can’t watch online though, you’d have to buy it. Their website is http://www.thegodmovie.com
It has some similar info to the first 1/2 hour of “Zeitgeist”.